The Navy Comes Calling: Seattle’s Bid for a Naval Station
A federal commission arrives in the Pacific Northwest to evaluate potential sites for a new naval base, with Lake Washington emerging as the frontrunner against competitors like Port Townsend.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The three officers assigned by the Secretary of the Navy to select one site on the North Pacific coast for a government naval station arrived in Seattle yesterday and will today begin their investigations on Puget Sound. Their first study will be Lake Washington, back of this city, which they will approach via Salmon Bay, Isthmus, and the line of the proposed ship canal.
The day and perhaps several days following, will be spent in Lake Washington—in fact as much time will be given to the work as its accomplishment in a thorough manner may require. When their investigations here are ended, the commissioners will go to other points on the Sound, including Port Townsend, the islands of East Sound, Quartermaster north of Tacoma, Olympia and all other points. No place will be overlooked, and the advantages of each will be considered fully.
We of Seattle believe confidently that of all the places which have been or can be suggested, Lake Washington has the most advantages and the fewest disadvantages. With a fresh water harbor, absolutely protected from attack by the proximity to timber and coal supplies, proximity to the markets and other facilities of a large city, proximity to iron mines and to the facilities for iron manufacture—with all these circumstances Lake Washington seems, indeed, to answer every requirement.
The duty of the commissioners now here is not to locate the proposed station, but to examine the whole northern coast, and to report to the Secretary of the Navy with recommendations.
This 1903 article captures a pivotal moment in Seattle’s history: the fierce local competition for federal infrastructure that would define the city's economic destiny. While Lake Washington was touted as the ideal site due to its fresh water and protection, the eventual selection of Bremerton (and later the expansion of facilities in Seattle proper) shifted the region's industrial focus. Today, the legacy of this naval investment is visible in the continued dominance of defense contracting and maritime logistics in the Pacific Northwest economy.
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